1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to a prepaid card, and in particular, to an integrated prepaid system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A prepaid system comprises a system wherein a user pays for an account and then can later use the prepaid account to pay for the purchase of goods or services. The user can conduct transactions with the prepaid account, wherein merchants or sellers can debit from the prepaid amount stored within the prepaid account. The prepaid account can include a prepaid card that the user can carry and employ in transactions. One example of a prepaid card is a prepaid telephone card that is used to pay for telephone service. The term refresh refers to an operation of adding additional value to an existing prepaid account.
A prior art prepaid system can perform basic prepaid account operations. A prior art prepaid system can select and execute a required prepaid processing routine/application and can perform financial transactions on the prepaid account, such as debiting the prepaid account for purchases of goods or services. A prior art prepaid system can perform a personal identification number (PIN) activation or deactivation through a point of sale (POS) merchant, wherein a PIN for a prepaid account can be activated and/or deactivated. A prior art prepaid system can perform a PIN in-store refresh, wherein a POS merchant can add value, such as in minutes or dollars, to a prepaid account user's preexisting prepaid account. A prior art prepaid system can add a bonus value within a refresh transaction. Likewise, another prior art capability is that a prior art prepaid system can perform an in-store refresh refund operation through a POS merchant and can therefore refund a PIN in-store refresh operation. A prior art prepaid system can perform a balance inquiry operation, displaying a preexisting prepaid account. A prior art prepaid system can perform a batch prepaid card activation. A prior art prepaid system can perform a multipack prepaid card activation or deactivation. A prior art prepaid system can perform a PIN status inquiry and a single PIN activation.
A prior art prepaid system can perform the prepaid transactions described above. The prior art prepaid system can include a protocol-to-protocol handler, a rules database, a processing server, and a forwarding server. The prior art prepaid system can receive a prepaid transaction from POS terminals, from voice recognition units (VRUs) of a voice telephone network, from world-wide web connections, or from other connections. A prepaid transaction is received in the protocol-to-protocol handler and is passed on to the processing server if the prepaid transaction is received in a proper protocol. The processing server validates the transaction type with the rules database and determines which prepaid application is to be run by selecting an appropriate application platform identifier. The processing server passes the prepaid transaction and the determined prepaid application to the forwarding server. The forwarding server validates the application platform identifier and the transaction type received from the processing server. The forwarding server also determines where the transaction is to be sent in order to be processed by the selected application platform. The transaction can be transmitted to various types of application/processing servers for the requested prepaid account processing, including performing prepaid account database management operations, performing billing operations, and performing reporting operations.